Vito: Sixers miss chance to showcase Wiggins during predraft visit

Andrew Wiggins was in town Tuesday to work out for the Sixers and news of his appearance created a buzz at the team’s practice facility. But the Sixers declined to make Wiggins available to the media. (Associated Press file/CHARLIE NEIBERGALL)

PHILADELPHIA — The mere mention of Andrew Wiggins making an appearance Tuesday at the 76ers’ practice facility drew a crowd, just as it had a day earlier.

On this day, cars passing along Stout Road — a connector of City Avenue and Monument Road — slowed to a crawl. Those feeling more ambitious dropped their vehicles into park near the loading dock at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, hoping to spy Wiggins as he exited the building.

Students, faculty and medical professionals, some of whom had never heard of the 19-year-old star, paused near the loading-dock doorway. If Wiggins was worthy of two camera crews and a half-dozen scribes, he was good enough for the casual onlooker, too.

And then there was that one fellow in his early 20s. Armed with a Sharpie and a glossy image of Wiggins, the young man described himself as “a fan and an autograph chaser.”

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They all waited, and then Wiggins exited. In silence.

Just like that, Andrew Wiggins’ whirlwind visit had reached its apex and achieved finality, all in a series of four steps from PCOM’s rear entrance and into a chauffeured sports-utility vehicle.

It was an opportunity the Sixers should have grabbed onto with two hands. After all, this was Andrew Wiggins, the 6-8 swingman from Kansas, a shoe-in top-three pick in next week’s NBA Draft, and one of the finest physical specimens the draft has to offer. And he was the highest-profile prospect to visit the Sixers in the lead-up to the June 26 draft.

Arguably, Wiggins’ arrival stuffed more PR buzz into a 48-hour period than all of the Sixers’ 19 wins combined. And yet, Wiggins’ trip to Philly will be remembered for a veil of secrecy and a demand for privacy.

Tuesday, reporters began arriving at PCOM just prior to 10 a.m. There, they would be greeted by Sixers media relations director Michael Preston, who apologized on behalf of PCOM and the team for what he called “a miscommunication” that a day earlier had forced media members from the practice facility’s doors to its parking garage, and eventually to the curb at the edge of its property line. Police would be summoned, as well.

“Steps were taken that we regret. It won’t happen again,” Preston told reporters, while offering doughnuts and bottles of water as an olive branch. “Obviously, the relationship that we have with you guys is paramount and I totally understand it and we want to do right. The doughnuts are a small token of our appreciation. The fact that we didn’t communicate clearly with each other ?things shouldn’t have played out the way they did yesterday, so we apologize.

“We should have been more clear. We were not.”

Staunchly, the Sixers have followed a team policy, enacted last offseason following the hire of general manager Sam Hinkie, by which they do not disclose the names of draft prospects who are in town for workouts, nor do they offer up where and when those workouts will take place.

In doing so, the Sixers open themselves to ridicule from outsiders pining for more exposure from a team that finished with the league’s second-worst record, and from media members who are attempting to do their jobs. Speaking of reporters, one who regularly covers the team was, by chance, enjoying dinner Monday at the same Center City steakhouse as Hinkie and Wiggins … when his wife requested a photograph with the 19-year-old star.

“I would use last night as an example,” Preston said. “If they’re out and about, we’ve never interfered with you guys. I understand you have a job to do. We appreciate the job you guys have to do. We also have a job to do, and they’re trying to do it in a way that they think gives us as much of an advantage as possible and we know we have to work together as much as we can.”

Having Wiggins answer one or two questions would not have been unorthodox. Same goes for asking him to oblige fans seeking an autograph. It would have offered a glimpse into one of the draft’s top players, one the Sixers are courting hard.

The Sixers should look to embrace chances to embrace their fans. Instead, they clanged an attempt off the back iron.